1. Path of Perfection

 

But remember that as no war can be carried on with greater fierceness, the forces, no other than ourselves, being equal on both sides, so the victory when gained is most pleasing to God and most glorious to the conqueror.  (SC 5 Chapter 1)

When the new week dawns, I will meet with attorneys to outline the course of our battle ahead.

This is not the first time a conflict has required consult and enlistment of forces.  No matter how many laws exist to define justice, man has no limits to the ways he might cheat, lie, and assault.

On the other side of the world, battle lines are drawn not with lawyers, but with swords, tanks, and poison gas.  Another battle over property, but the stakes are life-threatening.

Battles, pitting good guy against bad, trace their existence back to Cain and Abel.  An enemy, the fight, the roar and clash of swords until…a winner is declared.

What kind of battle is this, The Spiritual Combat?  I am both the enemy and comrade, wielding sword against sword, my right hand versus my left.  I turn right, then left, defending…then attacking…all against myself.

The source of conflict?  The law under siege?

The law of Love.  God’s command, His entreaty.  Love one another as I have loved you.  Love your enemies as yourself.  I look for an exception.  Even one.  How could God expect me to love the man who flies the plane delivering bombs?

The battle against my brother is, above all else, a battle fought inside myself, a heart divided…my heart…one soul, but two hearts in need of conversion.


Question:  What is the barrier to loving my enemy?


PRAYER: 

God, help me to see my enemy through Your eyes, his Creator, and to know Your love that fills and covers each of us.

 SCRIPTURE

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  [Mat 5:43-45]


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